Glamarella: Opposites Attract
by corneroffandom
Summary: Officially a series of one shots about Beth and Santino now, two so far, more to come.
1. Ease

She can't help but think maybe she should keep Santino from joining her at ring side more, as she and Jillian walk through the halls, riding high like queens should-- and oh yes, she feels like the queen of Raw right now. The glee of beating Kelly Kelly will soon fade and she'll want to find Santino and fix things, but for right now, she's so content that even Jillian's singing wouldn't bother her... much.

She's half way to the locker rooms when she realizes that Jillian isn't following her any longer-- in fact, she's back at the turn off where she told Santino to stay away from the ring mearly twenty minutes ago. "Hey, Jillian, what are you--" Her voice dies as she reaches the other diva and follows her sight, noticing why she's gaping at the floor with a painful lurch rocking her midsection. "SANTINO!" She barely notices as she drops the woman's title and falls to the floor, landing next to her facedown boyfriend, reluctantly touching his blood-smeared hair. "Santino! Wake up!" He twitches a bit at her voice, but doesn't move beyond that. Her eyes lock on Jillian's wide, horrified gaze. "Get a trainer! Now!"

The barked order works as the wanna-be singer dashes away.

Relieved that no eyes are on her now, she leans closer and runs a hand through Santino's odd hairstyle, wincing for him as she finds what she had hoped not to-- a lump on the side of his head, obviously the majority of the cause of all this drama. _I'm sorry... sorry, sorry._

When he shifts and leans into her touch, murmuring something that sounds suspiciously like "Beth" into the cool tiles, her heart shatters anew.

The trainer arrives then and between the two of them, gently rolls Santino onto his back. Jillian is hovering nearby, her eyes dark and worried even in the shadows of the hallway, but Beth ignores her, placing all her concentration on the man still prodding her boyfriend's skull and trying to talk him back to consciousness.

Annoyed at the trainer's failing to gain more than a few groans and mumbles from him, she kneels down by Santino, flinching as the cold tile bites into her shins. "Santino..." she breathes, running a finger against his cheek. "Santino, wake up!" Before the trainer can start whining and stop her, she digs her nail against his skin, quickly shifting and holding him down to keep him from hurting himself further as he jerks back to wakefulness.

"Ah, wha? Glamazon?" he slurs, blinking desperately as she struggles to calm down, smiling at him. "Ow."

"It's ok," she tells him, hand still resting on his cheek as she shifts so as not to hurt him further. "Did you see who did this to you?"

"Did what...?"

"You more than likely have a concussion," the trainer explains, a confused look on his face as he takes in how Beth is manhandling Santino, but how at ease the concussed man is none-the-less.

Santino's eyes narrow. "William Regale!" he declares with a haughty sniff that just makes his head pound more. "Agh..." he reaches around Beth and gingerly rubs his temples.

"Regal," Beth absorbs the info. "Lovely."

Santino goes silent for a bit before staring at her, something intense lurking in his gaze. "Your match, Glamazon-- did you?"

"I won. Don't worry about it." Guilt stabs through her as she wonders if she had let him come with her if he wouldn't be in pain right now. "Let's just focus on you right now, alright?"

He nods, face turning an interesting shade of red as he realizes she's nearly straddling him and Jillian, the trainer, and a few other nosy souls are eying them both. "We have an... as you say, audience?" he asks awkwardly after a couple seconds.

She sighs and glances over her shoulder. "What are you all looking at?!" Everyone but Jillian and the trainer scatter as Beth slowly gets off of Santino and helps him up. Before the trainer can take over, she pulls him closer and rests her head on top of his. "I'm sorry."

They both know if he asks her about it later on, she'll deny the apology was made, but for now, they lean on each other for a second, relaxing slightly as the remaining tension drains from them.


	2. Promises

_WWE Magazine asks:_

_BETH PHOENIX'S HOLIDAY_

_Q: What gift would make your holiday perfect?_

_A: I just want a gift from my special someone, Santino. I won't say what I want, but-- hint, hint-- it better be sparkly with lots and lots of expensive diamonds, and fit on my ring finger._

----------

Beth heads back to the locker room she shares with Santino-- seeing she's a title holder, she gets a room all to herself-- after scoping Melina out, trying to get a feel of the returning diva's attitude and energy.

Either way, she feels confident. Melina had no chance before her injury, and even less after it, because now her leg is a known weak point that Beth plans on exploiting if she should ever need to.

"Hey, Santino, we can--" She pushes the door to their room open, and frowns at the apparently empty room. "Where'd he go?" She's about to turn around and see if he's gone to harrass Regal, which is his new pasttime, when she sees a black boot poking out from between the table and the couch that decorates most locker rooms. "Santino!"

She's by his side in a second, rolling him over. Flashes of Regal attacking him from behind stick out in her mind as she feels gingerly around his head, and detects no injury. "What the..." Somewhere between exasperated and worried, she begins tapping his face, relaxing bit by bit as he stirs.

"Mia Glamazon?" he mutters, eyes squinting open as she shifts him against her to support him. "What happened?"

"You tell me," she says, voice rigid with stress. "I walked in and you were on the floor. Did someone do this?"

"No," Santino slurs, trying to sit up fruitlessly as she holds him down with one arm. "I ... I..." He frowns.

"You what? People don't faint for no reason, Santino. Should I get the trainer, or take you to the ER, or what?" Her worry rises as he fails to answer, and just stares at her, eyes wide. "Ok, that's it, come on, we're going..."

"No, no," he argues, freeing himself from her powerful grip. "I am alright, just a bit-- how you say, dehydrated. Would you mind getting me some water, please, beautiful Glamazon?" His voice raises hopefully as she raises an eyebrow at him in disbelief. "I will sit right here and move nary a muscle until your return." As if to prove his point, he sits down on the couch gingerly, and looks up expectantly at her.

"Oh, fine," she grumbles, heading for catering. "NOT a muscle," she says over her shoulder before leaving completely.

He swallows weakly and waits till her footfalls fade away completely before diving under the table, quickly snatching up the magazine that had fallen there when he passed out. Melodramatically, he covers his eyes, to keep the frenzy-inducing words from his delicate sight before dropping it between the couch and wall where she can't see it. As soon as it's discarded, he resumes sitting and is the picture of innocence as Beth returns, with his water and no reason to doubt that he remained on the couch the whole time.

-----

"Jillian, will you cease the ear-smashing racket long enough to listen to Santino's request?!" he demands a few weeks later, a new, crazy plan rattling around his head.

"I already told you I'd be glad to help you shop!" the overly cheerful blonde says, and Santino can picture her bouncing up and down in her seat with a grin on her face, even though they're talking on the phone. "I love going through stores during the Christmas season, they play the best music and it's fun to sing along! Everyone is always in such awe of my abilities!"

He groans softly. "Perhaps the will be of assistance..."

-----------

On December 24th, at midnight, Santino is sitting awkwardly near Beth, smiling down at the PSP she's gotten him.

"You like it? I figure it may be something to do during long flights and stuff." She fiddles with her hair as he nods, which brings a wide smile to her face as well. "I'm glad."

He freezes momentarily as the realization it's his turn hits him. "Ok, er. Santino has gotten the Glamazon a gift as well." For once, he runs out of words and slowly hands it over, his eyes locked on her face as she gapes at the jewelry box-shaped gift, hope welling up in her eyes as she shakily opens it to find a beautifully decorated ring with a decent sized diamond in the middle, and many smaller ones clustered around it.

"Oh my God," she breathes, looking up at him. "Is this..."

He swallows and digs something out of his pocket, before he tries speaking again. "This is, how you say, a promise ring?" When some of the hope dies from her eyes, he presses an article from WWE magazine into her hands. "You said it there, quite succinctly, Glamazon. We are... similar to them. We still are getting to know each other. But the promise ring signifies I will do all I can to put a ring more deserving to the Glamazon on her finger as soon as we're ready."

She doesn't answer for a long while, and he thinks he's angered her but finally she slowly puts the ring on her finger, a smile breaking across her face once more. "Thank you, Santino." She then surprises him by grabbing him, kissing him deeply as the article flutters to the floor.

_WWE Magazine:_

_Divas uncensored_

_Q: Is it too early for me to propose to my girlfriend of three months? I'm really considering it._

_Beth's A: I disagree. Enjoy dating before you get engaged! There might be compatibility issues you just don't know about yet. You can't possibly be certain that you want to spend the rest of your life with this person until you've been together for at least a few years._


	3. Green

So I received a very nice review to Farewell earlier that made me actually look and realize that, yeah, somewhere along the way, I forgot to post other Santino/Beth fics I've written here. They're on my COF Livejournal account but not here. Oopsey. Hopefully aceofally notices this!

Beth Phoenix is having a very long, stressful day. She's been insanely busy, with promo pictures needed to be taken for the Royal Rumble pay per view that's coming up really quickly, and an interview for . Add in a house show this evening and she's not had a moment to sit down and relax, not to mention catch up with Santino, who's been strangely absent the majority of the evening, which is worrisome. Very, very worrisome.

Her worries are put to rest as she turns the corner and hears Santino's voice echoing down the hallway, which means he's ok- if as highstrung as ever. However, her relief is short lived as she catches sight of a distinctly _green _form standing by Miz and Morrison's locker room, shouting something about deranged Hulk-monsters and dirty tricks and... "Santino!" she calls, stopping his tirade mid-sentence.

His whole body stiffens, and he turns slowly towards her, a look of dawning horror growing on his face. "Gla- Glamazon?" Every bit of his visible skin- from his ankles to his ears- is tinted a bright green.

She looks him up and down, before breathing out quickly. "What... why are you covered in green- paint?"

"Santino Marella was told," he says huffily, "that if he did not become _green_, the planet would die..." His eyes lock onto the door once more.

"And?" she asks.

"The Messy Sheet hosts gave me body paint and told me to go for it..." he mutters unhappily, "and thus Santino is _green_." He looks so humilated and lost that she can't even bring herself to see the humor in the situation.

"It's ok. Come on, let's go clean the paint off..." She quickly leads him along the most abandoned parts of the building, taking the long way to their locker room so less people can see and laugh at poor, gullible Santino.

"The Glamazon is too kind," he sighs, as soon as they're safely inside. He heads for the adjoining bathroom to clean up quickly.

She thinks about offering to help but settles back instead, deciding he needs a minute to himself. She'd help him later, by offering ideas to get revenge on Miz and Morrison for the Casa... Bored of waiting and tired of thinking about this, she flicks on the radio and half listens to commercials, as the sound of water from the bathroom continues on. Her eyes flick open as a new commercial starts.

"... Some people have been confused by the term '_going green_'... To explain what all this involves, we will be having an event at the..." The sound of water dies off and Beth yelps, fumbling with the switches and shutting it off just before the bathroom door opens.

"Glamazon? Is, ah, everything alright?" her now much-less green boyfriend asks, frowning as she stiffly moves away from the radio, eyes wide.

"Yeah, sure, Santino!" she exclaims in a high tone. "Let's go, the show's about to start!"

He frowns curiously, looking back and forth from the radio to her. "If you are sure..."

"Yeah, come on!"

He finally shrugs and follows her, rubbing self-consciously at a bit of the peeling paint that he forgot to clean off of his arm. "Alright, alright."


	4. Chores

_Worst Chore: I hate doing dishes, which I've remedied by making Santino do them!- Beth Phoenix, WWE magazine_

Rosa Mendez likes traveling with Santino and Beth, which limits their alone time by a lot. Santino doesn't seem to mind it, but it makes Beth cranky. It's not until Santino invites Rosa to come to their apartment that Beth explains to him why she has problems with the intern.

The girl is too... fake and bubbly all at once, and it grates on Beth's nerves. But it's too late now to do anything, so they have Rosa over. Rosa coos over their apartment, takes in the room full of Italian things that is clearly Santino's, and the more aesthetically appealing room that is Beth's. Everything else is a fun mesh of the two distinct personalities of Glamarella, a fun little Italian glam.

Things are awkward when the three of them are together; Beth is bad at hiding her dislike for the intern, Santino works too hard to make them happy, and Rosa works too hard at being helpful. Beth doesn't like overhelpful people. It makes her uncomfortable, especially in this business when everyone is waiting for the opportunity to backstab and betray you. The only one she's never worried about doing that to her is Santino, mostly because she knows she can take him, and also their relationship is mostly solid, Rosa not included.

They order in pizza at Rosa's insistence, and enjoy it despite the uncomfortableness blanketing the dinner table. When they're finished, Santino clears the table of the plates and utensils- Beth gets sick of using paper and plastic while on the road, so when they're home, they use actual dishes- and goes into the kitchen as Rosa frowns after him.

"Do you have a problem?" Beth asks after a few moments of her not looking away from the kitchen.

"Is... Santino doing the dishes?" she asks cluelessly, biting her lip at the clanking of plates against a sink.

"...Yes?"

"How come?"

"Because he knows I hate to do them and for whatever reason, he doesn't mind it. So the job's his..." Beth raises an eyebrow at Rosa, just daring her to say or do something.

However, the intern smiles brightly. "You two are so cute together!"

Oh, yes, she's annoying.


	5. Decisions

Beth is sitting quietly next to Santino at the airport, frowning slightly as he looks on at the crowd of bustling people all around them. When she shifts, he finally looks over at her and smiles in the cocky, almost goofy way that he always does when he's smiling at her.

She forces a smile back and looks away but it's obvious he's noticed her mood when he shifts closer, despite the uncomfortable chairs they're separated by.

"Glamazon? Is something, ah, the matter?" he asks quietly though there's no reason to due to all the noise around them. He could've shouted and no one would've turned to look, she figures.

"No, not really."

"Then why do you seem so... unhappy? It is a good day, yes? We have just finished another successful tour of pathetic American cities, proving to everyone around the nation how amazing Glamarella is. There's no need to look so sad?" he asks, tentatively reaching out towards her.

"Yeah," she mutters, "It was a good tour, but..."

"But what?"

Before she can stop herself, she looks into his eyes and realizes he's honestly worried and a little hesitant. Sometimes it surprises her that he truly cares; God knows he wasn't a good boyfriend to Maria so she had had her doubts when she started getting interested in him. She's so glad she gave him a chance.

"I... I miss us."

The simple declaration leaves them both startled and speechless until finally Santino whispers, "Us? What do you mean, Glamazon? We haven't gone anywhere. Have we?"

"No," she says uncertaintly. "No, it's just... look, we spend days traveling all over to get to these events, then we have to do fan events and the shows themselves. Then we go off to our individual homes and I don't see you till the next event we need to go to. Add in Rosa following us around to all these events and... I- it's just-"

"I understand," he says quietly, leaning closer to her. "I feel the same, the schedule's Hell, Glamazon. But what do you want to do about it?"

She finds herself staring off into the distance before she finally murmurs, "Move in together?" When she finally looks at him, he looks shocked and she backtracks. "I mean, uh, maybe in a few months, when we're ready and-"

"Glamazon," he says with a small smile.

She stops and hangs her head a little, a blush growing across her cheeks. "Yeah?"

"I like it," he says quietly. "Actually I had been thinking about it for a little while but thought you'd not be interested."

She stares at him for a long moment, eyes wide with surprise, before hugging him tightly, not caring about all the people watching them. All he cares about is the smile growing across her face.

It takes a lot of time and work and patience and deep breaths before they find a place that works for them both. Beth knows for certain she's made the right decision when she gets to come home from an interview to do with Wrestlemania and the first thing she sees is Santino asleep on the beautiful white couch they had argued over- luckily she won that disagreement- and kisses him awake.

"Glamazon," he greets her, voice still rough with the last vestiges of a cold. "You're home."

"Yeah..." As he sits up, she leans against him and smiles, looking around at the place that is _theirs_. "I am."


	6. Attention

This was written when Santino wrestled Mickey James with his hands tied behind his back.

Santino's hands are still tied behind his back when Beth leads him to their rental car, which makes walking awkward. Rosa is following behind them, trying to help him- untie him, something, anything- but Beth keeps slapping her hands away and shooting a glare at her.

"His hands are going to get chapped-" she's explaining as Beth helps Santino into the car, making sure he doesn't addle his brains further by bashing his skull against the sloping passenger side entrance.

Santino huffs quietly as Beth turns away from him and smiles warningly at Rosa. "Do we need to discuss the boundaries again, Rosa?" The intern sighs and shakes her head negatively as Beth smiles. "Good. Now go home, I'll take care of Santino."

He grimaces weakly as the sounds of Rosa's high heels clack away, leaving him with an obviously annoyed Beth and no real way to easily defend himself as he slowly loses all feeling in his hands. Beth leans back in and checks his seatbelt. He can't help but yelp as it snaps against his abdomen. When she pulls back, she smirks and pats his cheek. "Wouldn't want you to hurt yourself now, would we?" is all she says as she leaves his side of the car, slams the door shut and goes to the driver's side.

_I'm in trouble,_ he decides as she gets into the car and starts it up. "Are we stopping at a hotel, Glamazon?" he asks with forced bravado, not willing to look over at her just yet.

"Ah no," she says cheerfully. "I think we can get to our apartment before daybreak."

He gulps and thinks of his poor, cold hands stuck between his back and the seat. "All the way to New York?" he asks faintly.

"Yep. Get comfortable," she says and, yes, there's a good hint of evil humor in her voice. He gulps again.

She's driven for about ten minutes when she notices he's trying to get the pressure off of his hands, despite the seatbelt attempting to pin him down. His face is pressed against the window, he's tilted so far to the right. She can see his hands now, which surprises her. Santino is quite the stubborn man when he wants to be. It brings a slight smile to her face. He can do stupid things that embarrass her and make a joke of his career but yet... he's a loyal man, has stood by her through the good and the bad, and all he's ever really asked for was for her to hire Rosa...

She sighs and stops at a red light, taking the opportunity to peek at his hands while they're waiting under a street light. They look red and have marks from the seat and his clothes crisscrossing them, not to mention the ropes themselves. She shakes her head and, once the light turns green, heads down a side street. Time to end both of their silent suffering.

As soon as she parks the car a few minutes later, he awkwardly turns his head a fraction in her direction, unable to move much since the seatbelt is close to his throat. "Uh, Glamazon?"

She doesn't answer, holding the sash with one hand as she snaps it free and keeps it from choking Santino as it slides away from him. Once that obstacle is gone, she rights him slightly, making sure he's not leaning against his hands. "We're gonna stay here tonight," she says simply, as he looks up at the well-lit hotel in front of them.

"But... what about our apartment?" he asks.

"Changed my mind," she says quietly, though she never planned on going that far while he was so uncomfortable.

She unties him while they're still in the parking lot so he's spared from the awkwardness of walking through the hotel hallways looking even more ridiculous than he does already, considering he's not been able to change out of his wrestling gear.

Once they're inside their room, Santino searches through his bag for some clothes and studiously ignores the welts and marks on his wrists and hands from the car and the ropes as he slips into his bright red wrestling shirt. He glances at Beth, who has her back to him, before laying on the bed and resting his throbbing hands on his chest.

When hands rest on his wrists, he jerks out of a light doze and looks up. "Relax," Beth whispers, gently rubbing his sore hands. "It's just me."

"Glamazon," he sighs, enjoying the soothing massage. "Why did you leave me tied up so long?" Still half asleep, the words slip out unbidden from his mouth and she stops rubbing for a moment, a sickening combination of guilt and pain stabbing through her at his sleepy words.

"You don't need to act so ridiculous to get attention all the time, Santino," she says gently. "You know that, right?"

He frowns, opening his eyes a sliver. "I have no Wrestlemania match, Glamazon. You and Rosa have Miss Wrestlemania, but Santino Marella has nothing. Since I have lost the Intercontinental title belt to that pathetic William Regal and his knee, I am an after thought."

Beth sighs and resumes massaging his wrists, moving in what she hopes is a soothing circular motion. "You're not an afterthought, Santino. Everyone's careers have highs and lows, it just happens. Give it some time," she murmurs upon realizing he's half asleep again, lulled by her ministrations. "I'll be by your side no matter what happens."


	7. Hidden

After Backlash ends, it's announced that Vickie Guerrero is searching for a new number one contender for the Intercontinental title. Santino decides it's time to try again to get his favorite title back so he goes to her and she agrees to let him wrestle in the tournament of matches, since so many others have also shown interest in the belt.

He and Kofi Kingston are competing when they're both distracted by a resounding boo coming from the crowd. Kingston looks up and mutters something Santino can't hear before being knocked to the mat.

Santino looks up and gapes as Knox advances, a slightly insane look to the half of his face actually visible around the beard that seems to be taking over his mouth. "Ah, no no," he squeaks, trying to escape under the bottom rope. Before he can get too far, a strong hand grips his ankle and drags him back into the ring. He struggles and writhes until Knox drops him but his second attempt to get away is thwarted again as Knox grabs him by the hair and drags him up till they're face to face. The sneer that spreads across Knox's face is one of the most frightening things Santino's seen.

He can hear Beth yelling outside of the ring and a small, non-selfish part of him is relieved she's not stuck in the ring with him as Knox shakes him angrily and then slams him into the turnbuckle repeatedly, forcing the air out of his lungs until spots form before his eyes. Referees are storming the ring and finally get between Knox and Santino, who falls to the mat and is rolled away from the rampage by Beth and a couple of referees.

"Are you ok?!" Beth demands, her fingers pressing against his jaw line as he struggles to look at her. "Santino?"

Everything fades away.

"He has a couple cracked ribs," the doctor is explaining to Beth and Rosa a few hours later. "Minor concussion too, and a sprained ankle. He should be fine with some rest and relaxation. It's just going to take some time."

"Can we go visit him?" Beth asks, unconsciously clenching her bag tightly as Rosa glances past her into Santino's room.

"Yes," the doctor says. "He's stirring now, but don't tire him out and try to keep him from unneeded stress."

"Thanks, doc," the Glamazon mutters before entering Santino's room. "Hey," she greets him softly as he blinks slowly at her. "How you feeling?"

"Glamazon," he whispers, confusion obvious in his eyes. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" she asks calmly, sitting next to him. "Ok." She's had concussions before so she knows how foggy a person can be afterwards. Rosa looks worried but Beth keeps her from freaking out with a glare. "It's not a big deal, the doctor says you'll be ok with some rest." She rests a hand on his cheek and smiles when he presses his face against her palm, tiredness bleeding out from his very gaze. "I'll make sure you rest."

Santino is released early the next morning, after a night of broken sleep in the uncomfortable hospital bed with nurses in and out much too often. By the time he's free of the hospital confines, Beth has plane tickets to New York and their stuff packed up, so all he has to do is sit back and wait to get home.

"What did Vickie Guerrero say?" he asks as Beth leans over and hands him his sunglasses so he's not blinded by the early morning sunlight.

"She said we could skip the next Raw, but I have a signing tomorrow I can't get out of. We'll figure something out." Beth pats his arm and holds on to the wheelchair as he slowly stands, leaning against the rental car. "You ok?"

"Yes," he breathes through the pain, hands curling around his chest protectively. She moves quickly, opening the car door and easing him into the back seat so he has more room before getting rid of the wheelchair. He sits up slightly and looks around at people heading towards the hospital. This is the part of the wrestling business he hates- injuries followed by unending time off healing. _At least it's only a week or two._

After they arrive at their apartment, Rosa's there waiting for them and between the two of them, Beth and her get Santino settled in on the couch before the assistant heads back towards the guest room to give Glamarella some privacy.

They spend a few quiet hours together, looking in on ECW for a few minutes before Beth turns the channel so Santino doesn't catch recaps of Knox beating him up. He's dozing off with his head in her lap when she pats him gently on the shoulder. "Eh," he mutters sleepily. "What?"

"We need to talk about tomorrow." He wakes up a bit more and focuses on her as she smiles down at him. "It's nothing really important, just wanted to make sure you'll be ok with Rosa staying with you for the day. If not, I could try to get out of the signing again... I just don't want you left alone."

"Glamazon is a good girlfriend," he says. "Rosa will take good care of me."

"If you're sure," she says dubiously. "I know she's kind of annoying..."

"The Glamazon just doesn't like her because she tends to be hyper and spurious..." Beth's hesitance grows into confusion at the mangled English Santino sometimes provides, but he barrels on before she can ask what he means. "... but she means well. Go do what you need to do tomorrow, I'll be fine."

"Alright," she agrees after a bit of thought. "If there's any problems, you call me, alright?"

"Yes, Glamazon. You worry too much." She sighs as he closes his eyes once more and runs her fingers through his hair, easing him deeper into his much-needed sleep.

When Santino wakes up the next morning, Beth is gone, on the way to her autograph signing. He yawns and rubs at his eyes, listening to the silent apartment. When Beth's around, it's rarely this quiet. She either hums while she's doing things or the radio will be on, _something_. It's easy to understand; as a wrestler, you're around pyrotechnics and loud entrance music that messes with your hearing after awhile. White noise of some sort is definitely needed.

He wearily sits up and swallows down a groan as his ribs remind him of their own agony.

"Oh, you're awake!" Rosa's cheery voice breaks through the quiet, causing him to jerk and reawakening all the aches and pains that seem a million times worse than last night. "Ooh. Sorry, sorry," she murmurs in a quieter voice as he fists the sheets and waits for it to pass.

"It's alright," he breathes heavily once he can think again. "What's going on?"

"Beth left a while ago. She told me to let you sleep in... how do you feel?"

"Stiff," he concedes after a few moments of awkward, tentative movements. "How was the guest room?"

"It was nice!" she says cheerfully. "What do you want for breakfast?"

He squints at her and grimaces uncertainly.

After a quick, surprisingly decent meal, Rosa helps him to the couch, where he's decided to wait for Beth, since she said she'd be back in time for supper. He dozes off after awhile, the remote falling slack in his hands. The sounds of Rosa tidying up comfort him into a deeper sleep. He stirs slightly when fingers graze across his arm and up towards his neck. "Glamazon," he murmurs sleepily, turning his head to bury his face into the couch cushions, the sunlight streaming through the curtains bothering him.

"Sorry, no." Rosa's cold voice promises something very bad and Santino pries his eyes open as she smirks at him, hands on her hips. The bubbly, helpful assistant is gone, replaced by this angry looking woman with an evil light in her eyes.

He tries to act nonchalant while fighting to sit up without causing himself much more pain. The soft cushions are not helping much and he mourns the decision to take the comfortable couch over the durable, possibly life-saving sofa they saw months back. "Is there a problem, Rosa? I-I will do all I can to help..."

She promptly pushes him back down just as he gets some leverage, smirking at the pained gasp that slips out of his lips as his body reminds him the torture it was put through just yesterday. "You've helped enough, thanks."

_Curses_, he thinks, forced to lay flat on his back once more as she sneers down at him.

_It starts off innocently enough, her stay with Santino and Beth. Once they help him onto the couch and make sure he's comfortable, Rosa politely ducks out to give her bosses time alone. Before heading to the guest bedroom, she looks back once more and smiles slightly at the cute picture of the two of them relaxing on the couch and talking softly to each other._

She knows her place, she is to do whatever Beth and Santino wants. Right now, they want her to relax in the guest room and give them some time alone. Tomorrow, she will be making sure Santino rests while Beth's at a signing. Not a big deal, she loves helping Beth out- and Santino too, he got her the job after all. It's no secret though, she wants to have a better relationship with her idol, Beth, over everything else.

Santino tries to help but Beth usually brushes off her attempts. Rosa keeps trying however.

_In the middle of these thoughts, the girl gets up and checks a nearby glass. _It's empty... _Reluctantly she leaves her room and tiptoes down the hall to where the kitchen is, just off of the living room. Santino and Beth's voices are low and it takes a lot of concentrating to hear them at all, but finally Rosa hears her own name being whispered. As she slips closer, Santino says, "Rosa will take good care of me."_

"If you're sure," Beth murmurs back. "I know she's kind of annoying..."

"The Glamazon just doesn't like her ..."

Without bothering to listen to the rest of the conversation, she walks quietly back to the room, the glass of water forgotten on the counter. By the time she's safely back to the bed, she's shaking, the numb look on her face fading away into a look of anger. "How dare she. I've done everything I can for her- for them! This is how I'm repaid?!"

She stops talking and breathes heavily, fists clenching and unclenching in the folds of the comforter. "They'll learn not to mess with Rosa Mendez. Ah..." She spends the rest of the night thinking and planning and deciding.

When the time comes, it's almost too easy.

Rosa sighs as she eyes Santino. "Knox really busted you up last night." It's said coldly, with no inflection or sympathy.

"Yes, yes, he did," Santino says, twitching as everything in him is telling him to sit up, move, run. Something. "Rosa, what-"

"See, it's occurred to me in the last few hours that you're in my way. I thought you'd actually help to get Beth to like me, especially when you convinced her to hire me in the first place... but you haven't. Instead your stupid Santina idea made her hate me more." Rosa takes a deep breath as the anger fuels her on.

Santino's eyes widen. "It wasn't my attention for you to get in the middle of our ... problems the last few weeks. Beth doesn't hate you-"

"Yes, yes she does," Rosa interrupts, her eyes gleaming as she stares down at him. "I heard her last night- she thinks I'm annoying." If the girl wasn't so angry, the way he gapes at her like a fish out of water would've been funny.

"Ah, but-"

"No, there's nothing you can say to change my mind. Just be quiet for once, Santino. I've done everything I can for you both the last few months, but it just isn't good enough for her and I think if you were out of the way, I'd be able to get Beth to like me easier... She'd see me for who I really am and not just some girl her boyfriend felt sorry for."

"Bu-" he grimaces, trying anew to sit up until she pushes him back down again, which sends a jolt of pain through his abused ribs once more. Before he can whine at this harsh treatment, she's leaning over him, a darker look in her eyes he likes even less than the previous one. "Wha-?" Before he can finish the sentence, her fingers are wrapping around his throat, elbows digging into his ribs and sending a grinding pain through his abdomen and chest once more.

"I told you to be quiet," she says lowly, glowering down at him. "Now see, Beth's gonna be sad you're gone and all, but I'll be there to help her through it... so we have a choice. I can continue doing what I'm doing right now..." as if to prove her point, she puts more pressure on his ribs, "or you can just leave, quit the WWE and never bother us again."

He gasps, his struggles basically worthless as pain, sleepiness and desperation for oxygen seizes him. The pain spreading through his body slowly fades, her words barely breaking through his dazed brain.

Beth can't shake this feeling that's been dogging her since she left the apartment. Something's wrong, she can just kind of tell. She tries to ignore it as she digs around in her purse while stuck behind a line of cars waiting for the light to change.

She freezes. _On top of everything else...? Crap..._ She bites her lip and examines herself in the rearview mirror, already knowing what her decision's going to be. WWE may never let her even look at the woman's title again but sometimes, other things are more important.

As soon as she finds a turn off, she turns around and heads back, hoping that it's all just in her overactive mind.

Rosa's taunting him, he thinks, as her fingers loosen and retighten every so often, allowing just enough oxygen to seep through to let him linger on consciousness. When his eyes flutter open, she presses down anew on his ribs, stopping him from struggling. "Are you going to make a decision? I'm giving you to the count of three or I'll just do what I want..." As her voice drifts away again, a sharp pain shoots through his ankle and he gasps breathlessly. "One..."

He grimaces as she digs into his ribs again. "Two..."

His eyes are rolling in the back of his head when suddenly Rosa's weight just disappears completely. The pain is still there, along with his need for oxygen, but the most of his problems are gone and he curls up, wheezing through the aches alternating in strength between his leg and ribs.

Beth quietly unlocks the apartment door, not wanting to wake Santino up in case he's still asleep, and lets herself in, resting her purse on the floor. "Rosa?" she whispers, looking around for the assistant. Hearing nothing, she heads into the living room and freezes.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she demands. Afterwards she wouldn't remember how exactly she reached the couch so fast but she does remember pulling Rosa off of a half-unconscious Santino by the hair, nearly upending the coffee table as she drags the assistant away, ignoring her as she flails and cries out at the injustice her hair is enduring.

"Let me go!"

"No!" Finally reaching the door, Beth keeps ahold of her with one hand while forcing the door open with the other. Rosa is still fighting to get free so the Glamazon slams her face first into the wall before pushing her out of the apartment and slamming the door in her face as she tries to get back inside, screaming. Beth huffs and quickly turns the lock, relieved that she never gave the freak a key.

"Santino?" she calls, turning away from the door and returning to his side. "Hey, hey." As she touches him, he flinches away and groans. "It's me, hon. It's Beth."

He looks up wearily, unable to talk as he claws a bit at his throat, which is slowly bruising before her very eyes.

"Damn, what did Rosa do to you?" she wonders, gently prying his fingers away so she can look, relaxing slightly as he slowly regains his breath. "I think we should take you to the ER... just to make sure." As she stands to collect her purse, Santino grips her sleeve, eyes wide.

"N- n... Rosa," he gasps out, his fingers twitching. "Outside. No."

"Ok, ok. Listen." She rubs his hand, trying to calm him down. "We're not going to go anywhere but if you feel weird at all, you let me know, alright?" At his nod, she gingerly pries his shirt up and examines his ribs, which don't look any worse for the wear, considering. "I'm gonna get some ice. I'll be right back," she tells him before getting up.

Breathing is easier now and Beth's around to take care of things so he dozes off before she even comes back.

_Santino knows that Beth's not going to drop this. She's been offended greatly since he stole Miss Wrestlemania out from under her but this match at Backlash is really the last thing he wants. For one thing, she's his girlfriend... and for another, he knows she can beat him easily._

So he runs. From the ring, to the back. Finds an empty locker room and hides. Unfortunately, his choices of hiding spots quickly slip through his fingers as she finds and begins to look around the room.

The next thing he knows, Beth has him cornered and grabs the itchy pink blouse he's been wearing too often the last month and lifts him. She slams him against the leather sofa and he grimaces, too dazed to move as she pins him. As soon as the ref tells them the match is over, Beth grabs at the black wig and pulls it off his head, glowering down at a sheepish looking Santino. She throws the wig across the room and turns away from him.

After a long period of awkward silence, Beth stands up and sits next to Santino, sighing when he doesn't look over at her. "I guess you're feeling pretty embarrassed right now. Now you know how I've felt the last month." He still doesn't respond so she stares steadily at the wall in front of them. "I was... embarrassed but it wasn't the whole reason I was so angry at you. You see, the more I saw Santina, the less I saw Santino. I guess... I just missed you."

At this, he does look over, gauging her truthfulness. No one's ever said that to him before. "I missed you too, Glamazon," he finally murmurs, his eyes lowering almost bashfully..

When he awakens, the memory dream still fogging his brain, it's nearly dark in the apartment and his throat feels like it's on fire, along with the rest of him. "Gah- Gla-..."

"Don't talk," Beth hushes him sleepily and he squints, realizing he's sprawled out on the couch still, his head in her lap as her fingers brush across his forehead and down into his scalp in a soothing, repetitive motion. "Just relax... everything's fine." He frowns as she shifts and holds up a bottle of water. "It's probably warm but someone fell asleep before I could help them take their meds," she says teasingly before helping him to sit up gingerly. "Easy..."

He chokes down the bitter, warm water and makes a face.

"I ground up some Tylenol to help with the pain," she explains, continuing to run her fingers through his hair.

"Signing," he gasps, the water helping his voice a bit.

"Oh, that," she says in disgust. "Yeah, well, I called Vickie and explained the situation to her... she understands." Beth's eyes darken as she gazes down at him. "If I hadn't come back for my cell phone, Santino..."

"But... did," he whispers, smiling tiredly at her, reaching out for her hand.

"Yeah, I did," she smiles back, giving his hand a squeeze. "You just rest. Maybe your throat'll feel better in the morning."

"Raw?" he asks tiredly. "Rosa..."

"Don't worry about it, I'll handle Rosa..." she whispers to him softly, rubbing circles on his palm as he loses the fight to keep his eyes open once more. "She won't touch you again. I promise."


	8. Normalcy

A couple weeks after the "debut" of Santina Marella, Beth is looking all around for Santino at a house show when she hears disgustingly familiar theme music and immediately turns to the ring, her fists clenching and unclenching as "You look so good to me" cycles through the arena.

Santina looks a bit worried as Beth walks resolutely to the ring, her "hair" unkempt and sweating a bit under the bright lights overhead. "Oh! My brother's girlfriend!" she says as Beth gets a microphone.

"This has to stop, Santino," she begins, but Santina interrupts, "-ah, -ah, not -oh -oh! We are twins, not clones of each other, you should not confuse us so! What if something unfortunate were to happen during one of your confused times?! I do not swing that way!"

"Oh my God," Beth fumes. "Shut up or '_something unfortunate_' will never happen again, Santino!"

Santina stares for a moment as Beth waits for a response. "My dear brother has been caught in the middle of your jealousy for far too long! I suggest we resolve this like ladies and get along," she finally says.

Beth glares in shock before saying, "Fine, pick a match, any match."

Santina hesitates. "That's not lady like!"

"I don't care! Pick!"

"Uh," she says, obviously thinking hard. "Rock paper scissors?"

Beth crosses her arms angrily. "No!"

Santina's eyes widen as she advances. "I do not like the look in your eyes.. it is attractive, yes, but not good for me!" With a quick yelp she ducks under Beth's arms and dashes out of the ring, not even looking back as she runs up the ramp.

Beth stares on, as confused as the unhappy audience around her.

Beth doesn't see Santino or Santina the rest of the event or afterwards, so she's a little relieved and even more annoyed when she returns to the hotel room she and Santino had booked earlier that day to find he's already in bed, asleep, his back to the door.

"Where have you been, Santino? And what the Hell was with the quick get away as Santina earlier?" When he doesn't answer, Beth decides she's too tired to continue the argument so she quickly gets ready for bed and stiffly settles in with her back to him.

Half asleep as soon as her head hits the pillow, she instinctively rolls over and presses against Santino.

As soon as she touches him, however, her eyes snap open: he feels like he's on fire! "Santino?" she demands, shaking him slightly. Her unease grows when he remains unresponsive. "Dammit, dammit, dammit," she chants, running around to the other side of the bed instantly and eases him into a sitting position, resting his upper body against her. "Santino! Wake up, dammit. Right now!"

Unable to ignore her steely commanding tone of voice, his eyes slowly open and some of the tight clenching in her chest eases. "Glamazon?" he murmurs against the soft cotton of her shirt.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm right here, Santino. What's going on?" As he mutters nonsensical things, she remembers how sweaty and... out of it Santina had been during the house show. Her hand rests on his forehead and she sighs. "I'll be right back," she promises, easing him against the pillows despite his sleepy protests.

A quick search of the bathroom brings up nothing so she reluctantly heads out to the front desk, asking the woman there if she knows where the nearby 24 hour store is because it's nigh on 2 AM but Santino is sick and needs something now.

"There's one across town," she says, looking up from the computer. "What do you need?"

"A thermometer, my boyfriend's sick," Beth explains, wringing her hands together in nervousness.

"Oh, never mind that," the woman shakes her head. "I have one in my purse, you can have it... It's a mother's prerogative, always be prepared, you know? Here." After some rooting around in the brown bag, she hands over the device.

"Thank you," Beth says before running back to Santino, who's not moved since she left. Part of her is relieved and part of her is even more worried. "Here, here," she murmurs, quickly wiping the thermometer off before sitting him up against her once more.

"Nu-" he whimpers as she tries to press the cold tip of the thermometer against his lips, turning his head away from the intrusion.

She frowns, frustration at not being able to help him building. "Santino, my little cannoli, I know you hate this but you have to let me take care of you..."

"Be-" he breathes, "Beth?"

"Yes," she says in relief, wrapping an arm around him. "I need to take your temperature. Can you open your mouth?" He does and she holds it for him until it beeps, confirming a fever of 102.5.

He squints tiredly at her and murmurs, "Glamazon?"

"It's ok," she assures him. "I'll handle it. Just rest." He does as she says and falls asleep almost as soon as his eyes flutter shut.

One less thing to worry about, she heads into the bathroom once more and digs through everything. Finds all the towels she can, piles them up by the sink. Cool- not too cold, not warm, just cool- water saturates the towels before she takes them back to the bed and begins putting them in the proper places- behind his neck, on his chest, under his arms and legs.

Slowly the fever fades away under her watch, doesn't break, but hovers at the 100.3 mark. When it falls to 99.9, she sighs in relief and realizes it's 6 AM. Four long hours of her changing the towels, rewetting them, soothing him when he complains about the sudden chill.

She snuggles against him once more, too tired to care about how damp the bed is, and falls asleep almost immediately.

"Yeah, Santino was sick after the house show," is the first thing he hears slightly as his eyes slip open. "No, it was just a fever, Rosa. It broke a couple hours ago... I'm not sure, he wasn't showing other symptoms."

He attempts to sit up to find out where she is and barely manages to slump up against the pillows a little more, but it's enough as he catches sight of her leaning against the bathroom door, fiddling with her hair like she does a lot when on the phone.

"Rosa, it was just a week ago that I made him make out with Khali... you don't think he was infected with some Indian disease, do you?" she whispers, sounding truly horrified. "Khali does go back there pretty often..."

Santino blinks and fights once more to sit up, wondering about the possibility of Beth's idea, a worried shiver running up his spine.

"I'll talk to you later," she says suddenly with a soft laugh and turns to look at Santino, snapping the phone closed. "Good to see you awake, my little cannoli. I suppose you're feeling better if you're back to listening in on my phone conversations."

He flushes a bit as she helps him sit up in a more comfortable position against the pillows. "Better?"

"Yeah." He ponders the vague whispers of memory he has from the house show and after it and peers up at her. "Thank you, Glamazon."

Her face softens as she sits next to him, running a hand over his jaw. "You're welcome, Santino. But next time?" she waits for a moment as he looks up uncertainly at her, teasing him. "Tell me as soon as you're feeling nasty, maybe it wouldn't get this bad. Ok?"

He nods, leaning into her touch. "Alright, Glamazon."


	9. Never Easy

After Backlash, Santina disappears for awhile, to Beth's relief. During this time, Santino goes back to normal and doesn't mention Santina at all.

Except that other divas aren't quite as willing to let the Miss Wrestlemania nonsense go so three weeks after Backlash, Beth somehow isn't surprised to hear that Maryse wants to face Santina and that Vickie Guerrero has granted the match. Santino looks like he's just gotten kicked in the "scrotimus region" again.

Beth grimaces as he calls after Vickie, "But my poor sister! She is not ready!"

Ready or not, Santina makes her appearance an hour later, her overly made up face twisted unhappily.

It's only because Rosa insists that Beth watches from a monitor near the gorilla position as Maryse enters the ring and smirks at Santina, brandishing the diva belt at her. Santina just glances at it before pacing in front of the ropes, waiting for the bell to ring.

During the match, Santina gets very little offense in, mostly trying to avoid Maryse's attacks. The French Canadian soon gets annoyed and, after Santina misses with a kick, uses the 'girl's' momentum against her to send her out of the ring angrily. Santina hits the security wall head first as Maryse runs her fingers through her hair moodily.

"That sounded like a nasty hit," Cole comments as King nods in agreement.

"Santina probably won't be much more competiton for Maryse now."

Rosa looks worried as Santina regains her footing, a bit dazed. Beth frowns, conflicted, as the ref asks her if she can continue. When Santina rolls back into the ring and punches at Maryse, she ducks aside and kicks her in the side of the head, which causes Rosa to hiss angrily.

Santina is pinned and Maryse poses for awhile as the ref helps her to the back. Beth and Rosa are waiting by the gorilla when the uncoordinated 'diva' comes through the curtain and the trainer runs up to them, the ref and he murmuring to each other as Santina sits miserably nearby, head lowered as if it hurts to hold it up.

Rosa and Beth follow as the trainer leads her to the room he was given to work out of tonight.

"How bad is your headache?" he asks. "Scale of one to ten?"

"Seven," she says after a moment of thought, still speaking in a falsetto.

"Santino, you can act like yourself now," Beth says in exasperation, lowering her voice when she cringes and grips at her head.

"What do you mean?" she asks, eyes wide. "My name is Santina, not Santino."

Beth glowers. "Santino, I'm not in the mood for this."

"Do you have hearing difficulties? I said my name is Santina!" she says a little louder, before clutching her head once more, hissing painfully.

The trainer ignores them all as he checks her over thoroughly. "Looks like you have a concussion. I want you to go to the ER, just to make sure it's nothing more serious."

"Thank you," she says quietly, releasing her head. "Will the Glamazon escort me?"

Beth is about to argue against it when the trainer says, "There's no way I'm letting him-"

"Him?" Santina interrupts indignantly, hands on her hips.

"-drive to the ER alone," he continues as if the interruption hadn't happened. "So one of you two will need to drive."

Beth and Rosa exchange looks for a long moment before Beth sighs and gives in, knowing if she lets Rosa drive, both of them will need the ER before the night's over. "Fine."

The ER is, of course, hideously busy and Beth sits with Rosa in a chair between her and Santina once she's answered a nurse's questions about her condition. Luckily no one asks about Santino and his weird appearance, perhaps because of the murderous look on Beth's face.

They finally get called in around three hours later, Santina a bit more steady on her feet as she wanders back to the examination room, Beth and Rosa following slowly. The nurse takes her blood and leaves behind a gown. "A doctor will be with you in a little bit."

When the door finally opens, the doctor looks uncertainly at the weirdly dressed person before her, then at the angry looking blonde and unhappy brunette. "Good morning... It says here you hit your head?" she asks, checking the chart.

"Yes," Santina says, not responding as the doctor pauses, startled by the falsetto. "WWE's trainer tells me I have a concussion."

"You're a wrestler," she says, some pieces of the puzzle fitting into place.

"Yes. I am Miss Wrestlemania," she says proudly as Beth crosses her arms over her chest angrily.

"I... see. Alright, well, let's run some scans and see what we can find, hmm?" she murmurs, checking a few things on the chart.

While this goes on, Beth leaves the emergency room and stares up at the night sky, a slight piece of tranquility amongst the chaos around her. She's out there for awhile before Rosa comes to find her.

"You ok, Beth?" she asks quietly, sitting next to her on the hood of the rental car.

"Yeah. What's going on in there?"

"They're still running tests... and he's still acting like Santina."

Beth doesn't react for a long while. "What's the doctor say?"

"Not much. She thinks he may be confused, due to his head injury."

Beth shakes her head. "Things can never be easy with Santino." They sit on the car for awhile longer before Beth stands and heads back to the hospital, not even bothering to look back. She knows Rosa is right behind her.

"What's the verdict?" she wonders as soon as they re-enter Santino's room, finding the doctor in mid-explanation.

"Concussion," she says smoothily, as if not startled by Beth and Rosa's sudden appearance. "He... appears to be confused but it should pass. Keep him calm and if his symptoms get worse or he starts acting strange, bring him back. Tylonel should work for the headache."

Beth stares. "Acting strange?" She gazes over at Santina. "How would one be able to tell that?"

Beth reluctantly lets Santina into their hotel room despite the fact that she's tried to put her foot down up to this point and keep Santino's "sister" from gaining access no matter how "she" begs. "You can take the bed," she says wearily, settling on the couch.

"If you are sure," she says primly, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Beth sighs at the continued use of the falsetto and leans against the armrest, kneading at her throbbing forehead. "Take some tylonel and get some sleep..." She grimaces. _Maybe he'll sleep this off..._

A few hours pass quietly until Beth jerks awake to find thin moonlight streaming from the nearby window, her eyes gritty and mouth dry. "Mmm," she grimaces, stretching out her cramped body as she sits up slowly and turns towards the bed.

Santina appears comfortable, on 'her' side with one arm flopped over the side of the bed. The wig 'she' wears is crookedly resting against her forehead and Beth smirks. It's tempting to grab the digital camera and take pictures of this proof but in the end, the mere fact that Santino is suffering a concussion causes her to rethink this and she puts the camera back in her purse.

Wandering closer, she frowns upon finding at some point, Santina had changed... into one of _her_ nightshirts. She groans. "Dammit." Steaming, she returns to the couch and tries to return to blissful, blank sleep.

Eyes flutter slowly as sunlight drenches the bed in golden radiance, dragging him closer to consciousness. His mind feels foggy, almost detached. Thoughts are slow and confusing. He moans, dropping a hand across his face. It brushes against something rough and coarse... for a moment, he freezes, thinking of the many insects that could've claimed his face as a resting spot and quickly slings it off of him with a pathetic cry that cuts off into a groan as pain slices through his head.

The pain and weird satiny feeling against his skin encourages him to open his eyes to find he's sprawled out on a hotel bed, face tilted towards the window. The light does not help his aching skull so he squints his eyes closed again while running a hand against the soft fabric that feels like... something Beth would wear. Again, he forces his eyes open and stares down at the nightshirt that is covering his upper body, a look of horror on his face as he curses in Italian.

His pride proving more important than the agony he's in, he forces himself to his feet and quickly throws the nightshirt elsewhere, finding a shirt of his own and slipping into it. He's hoping that no one has seen him in this particular feminine wear when his eyes drop onto something dark and familiar near the bed. As soon as he lifts it up, he knows: Santina's wig. His face droops in confusion. _That insect I thought was on my head... oh... _He proceeds to curse.

Beth returns a little later, juggling the hotel key and a couple bags. Santino watches as she scatters the bags upon the couch and drops the key on the desk. "Ah, awake and dressed, I see," she says with an evil kind of smirk that tells him she definitely saw.

"Uh, yes, yes I am," he says simply, fiddling with his hands. "Where is my sister, do you know? I've not seen her since her match against Maryse?"

Beth huffs in the way she always does when he acts like he's not Santina. "Last I heard, she got a concussion," she grumbles, glaring at him.

_Explains the headache, _he thinks vaguely as he shifts to hide the lump in the bedding where he slipped the wig just before Beth reentered the hotel room. "I must check on her then."

Beth's conscience is still grating at her so she stands long enough to drop one of the bags near him. "Eat first. Santina can _wait_."

Santino's about to argue but Beth looks so tired and aggravated that he finally nods and digs into the bag. "Very well, Glamazon..."


	10. Realizations

Santino Marella prides himself on being a very observant man. So when Beth Phoenix wrestles for the first time in weeks- due to what he figures is depression from the sudden, public break up of Glamarella- he notes that the promise ring he gave her last December is mysteriously gone from its usual place on her finger.

He stalks down hallways, angrily glowering at the tiles. This just won't do, someone dared steal the ring he gave his beautiful Glamazon? His first stop is the Raw host's locker room. It's not his fault the man has a scrabble board and he gets briefly distracted from his goal until Shaq beats him with "Shaqalicious".

As he starts to leave, he realizes Cryme Tyme is following, babbling in their "ghetta slingo". "You!" he cries, spinning on them. "You stole the Glamazon's ring!"

They both stare at him in confusion. "What?" They shrug and brush past him, ignoring his complaints, going on about money and other things he didn't really understand.

"Hmph," he huffs. "This calls for a new technique. The promise ring will be recovered!"

He has no match tonight so trolling the hallways is easy enough as he goes from locker room to locker room, looking for any sign of people looking suspicious. "But of course they all look suspicious," he sniffs to himself as he passes a quietly talking Chris Jericho and Big Show.

He stops and watches in what he thinks is a discreet fashion as Chavo Guerrero walks past, muttering about Hornswoggle and evil Raw hosts. "Lying cheating stealing is his mottos, he could easily be the thief." Santino waits until Chavo's out of sight before turning to look for others.

As Festus lumbers by, Santino eyes him. "Perhaps he thought it was a toy..." He adds the addled man's name to the list of people to watch.

After awhile, Hornswoggle skips past and Santino frowns in displeasure. "Little trolls... His being a thief wouldn't surprise me."

Jamie Noble is next, eying Santino as he walks past. "He would probably hawks it to pay mortgage on his travel trailer or somethings," he grumbles.

A shadow abruptly falls over Santino, distracting him from Noble-watching. He stiffens and slowly turns, eyes widening as his worst fear is confirmed- Mark Henry stands behind him, smirking in a way only the large athlete can manage. "Mm," he whimpers, cowering away.

As Mark stomps away, his laughter echoes back to Santino, who's still frozen in horror.

"What if... Mark Henry ates it?!" he demands once his breathing returns to normal. "I am doomed..."

He calms as MVP's loud voice proceeds his arrival, new thoughts distracting him from Mark Henry's creepy stare. "MVP... he does loves the bling," he murmurs, frowning. "Why are there so many possible culprits? I will never finds it."

His pity party ceases when Miz walks by, adjusting his glittery hat on his way to the ring. "Hmm. Perhaps he thought a real diamond would look good on his hats," he muses. He's about to go find Beth when one more person walks by, brushing her hair out of her eyes. "Kelly Kellys..." It takes a moment to focus on something other than her body but when he finally manages to, he frowns again. "Perhaps she saw something shiny on the floor and picked it up, not realizing it belonged to someone elses?"

Annoyed by all the possibilities, he heads for the woman's locker room and tentatively knocks, afraid that Beth will be in one of her moods and beat him up without listening. Luckily for him, Rosa Mendez answers the door and reluctantly ushers him in after checking to make sure everyone's decent.

His eyes lock on Beth. "Glamazon," he says, carefully walking towards her, keeping his distance in case she throws punches first and asks questions later.

"What is it now, Santino?" she asks unhappily, brushing her hair out.

"I realized earlier the promise ring is missing, I have a list of possible thieves," he says quickly, nervously, examining her in the mirror she's standing before. She's as lovely as ever, he notices, and feels a pang of regret. His greed and desperation for success had led them here.

She frowns up at him, confusion evident in her dark eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about, the promise ring wasn't stolen."

"There are many- wait, what? It wasn't?" he asks, jaw going slack as her words register with him.

"No," she says with a sigh. "I gave it to Rosa for safe keeping for awhile."

He blinks, glancing over at the intern who nods, visibly reluctant to get between another of their squabbles.

Beth continues, "I was afraid of what I'd do to it so soon after the whole... Santina nonsense, so she held it for me for awhile. It's safe."

Santino is confused but relieved at once- the Glamazon has taken steps to preserving the ring, which means perhaps things aren't as far gone as he initially thought. He decides to leave while he's ahead. "Very well. I... am glad everything is fine," he says slowly. "I'll... see you later, Glamazon. Rosa Mendez." As soon as he's safely back in the hallway, he smiles widely. "Yes, this could works."


	11. Knowing

Even while injured, Beth Phoenix likes to keep up with her craft- and not just things seen on TV, the things going on behind the scenes intrigue her as well so she goes fairly often to dirtsheets to keep up with the rumormill and fan reports. Her recent virtual stomping grounds, Twitter, provides her with all the dirt she could want and more at a much quicker rate than any dirtsheet however, especially when it comes to live events and match results.

Santino Marella knows this so, as he's helped from the ring after his confrontation with Vladimir Kozlov, he's flinching for more than just the steady throb coursing through his body from the Russian's attack.

Thus he's not surprised when, barely after he gets settled into the trainer's office for a thorough once over, his cell phone starts ringing. The trainer raises his eyebrow but says nothing so he shrugs and answers the phone reluctantly. "Ah, Glamazon?" As her voice echoes into his ear, he cringes and the trainer looks up, pausing while prodding the man's shoulder. Santino shakes his head and motions for him to resume the exam as Beth continues yelling at him. "I am fine, Beth," he says once she takes a breather in her admonishes.

"For now!" she exclaims and he can imagine how she looks, sitting on the edge of their bed, her braced leg out in front of her, probably rehabbing on her own against doctor's orders once more, her eyebrows pulled down in a menacing but somehow cute frown as she prepares to yell some more at him. "He doesn't like you! Why do you have a death wish?"

He smiles at the question and says, "I recall someone else who didn't like me but did like beating me up and look how that resolved itself."

She sputters. "You're honestly comparing you and me to you and him?!"

He grins wryly, picturing how annoyance would fuel her frown more than worry in this moment. "Well, in a manner of speaking... Except that you are much more beautiful." The trainer, now poking around Santino's ribs, snorts as Beth releases a breathy sigh that causes static to explode against Santino's ear.

He moves the phone to his other ear as she says, "He's not going to give in, Santino. He has Regal, just give up and go back to annoying the guest hosts so I can stop reading reports about you getting pounded by him, hmm?"

_Aha,_ he thinks with a smirk as the trainer ends his examination and nods to let Santino know he's free to go. "Now, now, Glamazon, have you ever known your Santino to be a quitter? I am not, after all, _Baptista_." He stands up from the table the trainer does his examinations on and, ice packs in hand, heads for the door as she sighs loudly again. _I'm running out of ears,_ he thinks absently. "Truly, I promise you, I am and will be fine. You'll see."

She groans. "Even if I wasn't injured, I wouldn't be around to stop you from being stupid because we're on different shows now..."

He nods. "I know. However, it cannot be permanent, right? Things will be fine, Glamazon."

"They better be," she warns. "Or I'll come back ahead of schedule just to teach you a lesson- you think Kozlov's scary..."

He smiles. "I know, trust me, I know. I am about to leave the arena, so I should get off the cell phone... Do not rehab too hard before I return to the apartment, yes?"

She mumbles something that doesn't sound very family friendly and his grin grows. "I'll see you tomorrow," she says.

"Tomorrow," he agrees.


	12. Rewrite

Upon Nexus' return, Heath Slater and Justin Gabriel resume going after the tag belts. Their latest rematch for the belts on Raw is going smoothly until Santino overshoots an attempted downward punch on a prone Heath Slater while on the outside of the ring, missing completely and hitting his head against the steel steps. Everything goes dark, the only thing remaining a distant ringing in his ears.

_"Santino, hey, Santino. Wake up."_

He blinks groggily and looks around, expecting blue eyes and blonde hair but his expectations are not met as his eyes rest on brown eyes and dark hair, awareness coming to him completely as he flounders to sit up, tangled up in the thin hotel sheets. "Tamina!" he exclaims sleepily, overbalancing as he reaches out for her and falling face first to the floor.

"Ah, not again," the deep voice of his tag team partner, Vladimir Kozlov, says- an English phrase he's grown quite attached to after awhile of hanging around with Santino.

"He does this often?" Tamina asks hesitantly as she tries to free him from the cocoon of sheets and pillows that seem determined to hold onto his legs.

"Yes," Kozlov mumbles, picking an edge of the sheets up and, with one forceful move, rolls Santino out onto the floor while folding the sheets up with the ease of much practice.

"Wow," Tamina blinks, easing a dizzy Santino into a sitting position. "Are you ok, Santino?"

He wavers for a moment, thinking he's hearing a more familiar, softer voice. He snaps to attention as she stares worriedly at him. "Ah, yes, Tamina! I am right as a rainstorm!"

She smiles pensively and strokes his hair before standing. "Alright then, I just wanted to come say hi before Raw tonight... I'll see you later?"

He nods, leaning into her touch for a moment. "Yes, ah, see you then, Tamina!" As soon as she's blown a kiss at him and left their room, he looks over and frowns at Kozlov, who is looking at him in a perplexed manner. "What?!"

He mumbles something rude sounding in Russian before dropping Santino's folded up sheets on the bottom of his bed.

"How am I to sleep on them all foldsed up like that?!" he demands, crossing his arms irritably against his chest while still sitting on the floor.

A lot of time seems to pass as the hotel drifts away and awareness slowly eases back to him- his fingers wrapping around the sheets beneath him, Kozlov's faint Russian mumblings, and a soft hand brushing against his hair as he struggles to open his eyes. "Wha...?"

"Santino?" a soft, female voice asks, Kozlov's voice fading away completely as the touch shifts down to rest against his cheek, soothing him as he turns towards the sound. "Can you open your eyes?" He struggles to do as the voice urges, as if afraid to disappoint its owner, time slipping through his fingers as if determined to keep him in this dark void. "Please?"

More time passes but the presence next to him doesn't leave, its fingers rubbing soft circles against his face patiently. Finally his eyes flutter- almost of their own volition- as the lingering touch eases up higher, grazing his bottom eyelid. He squirms as light bites into his pupils but there's a soft murmur from nearby and, when he struggles to open his eyes once more, the glare is much softer this time. He blinks as he looks up, gazing into worried blue eyes. "Glamazon?" He's been having weird flashes of images between the flashes of darkness- Tamina, with her dark eyes and hair, serenading him and mimicking his Cobra, walking on his back and involved with intergender tag matches with him- but something about it all feels... empty to him.

"Yeah, I'm here," she says quietly, leaning closer to him. "How do you feel?"

"What happened?" is all he says, still confused by everything.

"You and Kozlov were in a tag match... you hit your head pretty good on the steel steps," she explains, eyes shining with relief as he focuses on her completely. "Doc said you were lucky you didn't hit another few inches to the left. And that Kozlov got you back to the trainers as quickly as he did."

"I see," Santino mumbles, glancing over at Kozlov. "Thank you."

Beth sits down on the bed next to him and smiles as he looks back at her. "You never answered me- how do you feel?"

"A bit, ah, confused," he confesses, uncertain if it's worth it to tell her about the flashes he's been having about Tamina. _At least I am in the hopistal already?_ He takes a deep breath and stares at her. "Is Tamina here?"

"Tamina? Why, should she be?" Both Beth and Kozlov look confused at this as Santino shifts anxiously.

"Uh, well, no," he mumbles, twiddling his thumbs worriedly as he looks away from the two people closest to him. "I kept getting flashes of her while I was... out? I think."

"Flashes of...? What kind of flashes?" Beth asks, her eyes darkening warningly as Santino tries to slip to the other side of the hospital bed furthest away from her.

"She... uh, the flirty... kind?" he slinks lower under the sheets, looking over at Kozlov for a rescue but the Russian is inching towards the hospital room door as Beth rounds on Santino, an angry look on her face. _Coward,_ he thinks as Vladimir all but dashes out of the room.

She pauses as he holds his hands up defensively in front of his already damaged face and closes her eyes, counting to ten through gritted teeth. _He's injured already,_ she reminds herself. _Wait until he's out of the hospital, then let him have it for this._ She's almost calmed down when fingers wrap around her own, squeezing carefully. She looks up, finding him inching back towards her. "What?"

He swallows convulsively before pressing his side against hers, a sincere look on his face. "I may have had flashes of Tamina in my subconscious- which was also injured, obviously- but each time, I couldn't help but feel they were wrong." He looks at her once more, relieved to see she's weighing his words with the thoughtfulness she always gives every serious thing he ever tells her. "Something important was missing, you see." He taps her chin and smiles slightly. "My Glamazon."

Her eyes soften as she leans closer to him, taking care not to push him over the side of the bed as she nudges him. "I'm glad you're alright, my cannoli," she whispers.


End file.
